Covid-19 20204 Jun 2020
Reflecting on ECE professionalism post Covid-19 and Budget 2020
Dr Carmen Dalli reflects on the positives for the early childhood sector as we head toward the end of Level 2.
Covid-19 202029 May 2020
Counting the friendly frogs: welcoming children back to early learning centres
Parents experienced a mix of emotions when their children returned to schools and centres at the end of Alert Level 3. There was relief at the resumption of some sort of normality, but there was also anxiety. For the parents of young children in particular, there was concern about how tamariki would re-transition into early childhood education.
Two kindergartens share their stories of transition with AKO.
Covid-19 20203 Apr 2020
Q&A with Jacinta McInerney of Karanga Mai Early Learning Centre
Karanga Mai Early Learning Centre in Kaiapoi, north of Christchurch, is located on the grounds of Kaiapoi High School. A suspected case at the high school meant they had to go into lockdown two days before the rest of the country. Tumuaki of the centre, Jacinta McInerney, talks to Sara Shirazi about how they’re supporting the specific needs of their community.
Summer 20205 Feb 2020
Talking the talk
Oral language learning in early childhood is critical to success in later life. But how well do we do it in New Zealand?
Summer 20205 Feb 2020
Sign language and support systems
The landscape of Deaf education in New Zealand has changed a lot over the last 20 years. We look at the options now available to deaf children who are starting primary school.
Winter 201925 Jul 2019
People power
School principals from around the country explain how strong communities of staff bring crucial benefits for children and whānau, from South Auckland to Southland.
Winter 201925 Jul 2019
Building bridges: from community to ECE to primary
The importance of whānau and community doesn’t lessen just because a child starts school, but it can be hard for educators to maintain these strong connections once a child leaves early childhood education. Jane Blaikie and Jane Arthur talk to educators across the country about the challenges they face when trying to build bridges between the child and their community.
Winter 201925 Jul 2019
Working together effectively and consistently
Children do not exist in isolation; their lives are embedded in families, communities and societies. Nested within these communities are the schools and early childhood education (ECE) services children attend. When I was a child, my experience was of little interaction between schools and their communities. Looking back, this seems due to the culture of practice within schools, more than the school gates. In the intervening years, writers like Bronfenbrenner1 have drawn our attention to the complex influences of environments – both immediate and more remote – on development and the value of creating meaningful reciprocal connections between the different groups and settings that children are part of. Today we see attention to the role of communities reflected in our curriculum documents. “Family and Community/Whānau Tangata” is one of the principles of the early childhood curriculum, Te Whāriki, along with the expectation that each ECE service will use the curriculum “as a basis for weaving with children, parents and whānau its own local curriculum of valued learning, taking into consideration also the aspirations and learning priorities of hapū, iwi and community”. For kura and schools, Te Marautanga notes that for learners to succeed, the school, the home, hapū, iwi and community
Summer 201928 Jan 2019
Seeing the difference
Inclusivity in ECE is increasingly seen as an opportunity to improve teaching practices and engage children’s learning.
Winter 201816 Jul 2018
Recipes for Messy Play
A review of Recipes for Messy Play, from New Shoots Publishing.